A builder in India has been arrested as part of a Rs. 1.5 billion bitcoin extortion bust ($22.7 million USD).

Three months ago local builder Shailesh Bhatt had filed a complaint with the Gujurat Criminal Investigation Department.

In his complaint Bhatt alleged extortion by the Amreli police.

Amreli is a district in Saurashtra, Gujurat.

Upon investigating Bhatt’s complaint, Gujurat CID agents discovered

Bhatt had extorted bitcoins worth crores from others before he was kidnapped by the Amreli police.

Kidnapped? Yeah… this gets messy.

Two years ago another man, Satish Kumbhani, began promoting the
BitConnect
Ponzi scheme across Gujurat.

The builder, Shailesh Bhatt (right), was one of the victims that fell for it and invested $293,000 under Kumbhani.

When
BitConnect collapsed
in January, Bhatt arranged for kidnapping of a third individual, Piyush Savalia.

Bhatt’s men posed as Income Tax Officials and held Savalia at gunpoint in a farm-house for three days.

Savalia led Bhatt’s men to Dhaval Mavani, who Bhatt then also had kidnapped at gunpoint on February 1st.

Bhatt would later pay Savalia $50,000 for his silence.

While held at gunpoint, Bhatt’s men convinced Mavani to transfer 2,256 bitcoin to a wallet under their control.

That wasn’t enough though, with Mavani
held hostage
until he parted with an additional $2.1 million USD.

“Bhatt and his accomplices extorted bitcoins and cash worth a total of Rs 155.21 crore.

Later, they distributed the bitcoins among themselves. Bhatt had kept around 700 bitcoins,” the CID official said.

Bhatt’s kidnapping and extortion escapades were uncovered when CID agents interrogated Savalia as part of his complaint against Amreli police.

CID agents have since arrested Bhatt and his nephew, who assisted Bhatt with the transfer of bitcoin.

Bhatt’s henchmen are wanted but remain at large.

At this point you’re probably wondering why, after extorting $22.7 million from BitConnect scammers, Bhatt drew attention to himself by filing a complaint against Amreli police.

Well, turns out there’s something to his complaint.

Bhatt alleged that Amreli police kidnapped him and in turn extorted him out of $1.3 million.

Investigation of Bhatt’s complaint has led to the arrest of Kirit Paladia, one of Bhatt’s business associates,

Amreli Superintendent of Police Jagdish Patel, Amreli local Crime Branch inspector Anant Patel, two constables and a middleman.

Seven constables of Amreli district police, allegedly involved in the case, are still on the run.

Since the arrests a session court has also authorized an arrest warrant against local politician Nalin Kotadiya, who Bhatt alleged was also in on his kidnapping and subsequent extortion.

Local news reports meanwhile are
claiming
Satish Kumbhani (right) is the “founder of BitConnect”.

Quoting Ashish Bhatia of the CID on May 22nd, the Times of India
report
;

The web of complaints and counter-complaints have blown the lid off a major scam, which police believe was triggered by demonetization in November 2016.

Those with illicit cash were offered the chance to invest it in BitConnect and Nexa Coin, entities reportedly owned by Satish Kumbhani, a native of Amreli who has an office in Surat.

Kumbhani, who later fled the country, mainly stayed in Goa.

On LinkedIn Kumbhani cites himself as an “Asian Leader” of BitConnect. Other
BitConnect related media
cites him as a “BitConnect Program Developer”.

Kumbhani’s current whereabouts are unknown.

After BitConnect collapsed its principals across the globe
went into hiding
, along with the money they collectively stole.

Update 19th August 2024 – 
Shailesh Bhatt was
arrested
on August 13th, 2024.

Update 26th September 2025 – 
Seventeen suspects
received life sentences
for their roles in the attempted extortion of Shailesh Bhatt.

🤖 Quick Answer

What was the extent of the bitcoin extortion operation discovered in Gujarat?
A Rs. 1.5 billion ($22.7 million USD) extortion scheme was uncovered involving builder Shailesh Bhatt, who extracted bitcoins from multiple victims. The investigation by Gujarat CID revealed that Bhatt had engaged in extortion activities before being kidnapped by Amreli police officers, demonstrating a complex criminal network.

How did BitConnect involvement connect to the Gujarat extortion case?
Satish Kumbhani promoted the BitConnect Ponzi scheme across Gujarat two years prior. Builder Shailesh Bhatt became a victim, investing $293,000 in the scheme. Following BitConnect's collapse, Bhatt subsequently turned to extortion, extracting bitcoins from others to recover his financial losses from the fraudulent investment platform.

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